Anna Lenox, alenox@usgs.gov
William J. Shampine, shampine@usgs.gov
Daniel J. Goode, djgoode@usgs.gov

A multilateral track to the Middle East Peace Process began with an organizational meeting in Moscow in 1992. As a result, five working groups were created, one of which is the Working Group on Water Resources (WGWR). The U.S. serves as the Gavelholder of the WGWR, which held its first meeting in March 1992. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been a participant in the WGWR since inception. The WGWR established four broad agenda items to address some of the critical water issues in the Middle East, which is defined in this context as including Israel, West Bank/Gaza, and Jordan. Under one of these agenda items, a Public Awareness and Water Conservation Project was approved by the WGWR in 1996.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initially managed the project. Under their guidance, the Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian (Core Parties) prepared a video about water resources in the region. In 1999, Department of State asked the USGS to assume responsibility for the project. The next multilateral project initiated is known as WaterCare, an activity designed to prepare a Student Resource Book on water in the region. A third activity now is being initiated that is focused on the design and implementation of pilot rain harvesting systems in two schools for each of the Core Parties.